Judge Rebuked On Lesbian Adoption Rulings

June 02, 1999|By Robert Becker, Tribune Staff Writer.

Saying that a Circuit Court judge's actions had "discredited and disgraced not only the judiciary but the citizens of Illinois," an Illinois Appellate Court panel Tuesday vacated the controversial rulings of Judge Susan McDunn in two adoption cases and offered an unusual apology to the families.

In a caustic ruling delivered from the bench by Appellate Court Judge Morton Zwick, the panel ruled that McDunn's conduct constituted an "inexcusable injustice" in the two cases, which involved lesbian couples adopting a total of three children.

McDunn, said Zwick, "obviously had a predetermined bias against lesbians."

Zwick went on to say that no judge has the right to place himself above the interests of the parents.

And Zwick offered an apology: "If the adoptive parents are in this courtroom, you have my apologies as a judge."

McDunn could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Patricia Logue, supervising attorney for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represents the couples, said she was thrilled with the ruling.

"It's a resounding rebuke of a judge who was out of control," Logue said.

Cook County courts have allowed same-sex couples to adopt since 1995, and Logue said the two adoptions at issue were "highly recommended" by caseworkers.

McDunn, according to papers filed in the appeal, provided confidential material--including the names of the adoptive parents and the children--to a conservative Washington, D.C., group that opposes adoptions by gay and lesbian couples. McDunn had sought to have the organization added as a party to the cases, according to court records.

McDunn also opposed directives from Judge Francis Barth, the presiding judge of the Circuit Court division that oversees adoption cases. Barth had removed McDunn from the cases. But two months later, McDunn issued her own order voiding her removal and blocking Barth's approval of one of the adoptions.

McDunn's decisions in the cases "horrified" Edward O'Connell, the attorney who was appointed to protect the legal rights of the children.

McDunn, who was elected to the bench in 1992, was retained by the voters last November, although she was not recommended for retention by the Chicago Bar Association. She is now assigned to Traffic Court.